Next to Normal - Donmar / Wyndham’s

Did any of them happen to mention if any of the West End cast is going with it? I know Caissie will but I can’t imagine this production with a different Goodman family casted, they’re all so perfect for their roles.

Lizzy Parker was on for Natalie this afternoon and Jake Reynolds was on for Gabe. I think Jack Wolfe must have called out fairly last minute as he was on the cast board and they made a pre-show announcement. Both had amazing voices, Jake's Gabe didn't feel quite as sinister, I'm glad I caught them both. Cute moment at the curtain call for them too.

I'm not sure whether they've improv e the sound or whether it's because I was in the stalls for the first time, but it was nice to actually be able to hear everything that Caissie was singing! She's been slightly drowned out by the band the three other times I've seen it at Wyndham's. Her voice really is spectacular.

This may well be the last time I catch this production, so I'm very glad that it's being preserved.

Ended up seeing this twice during my trip (Wednesday and Friday) and it absolutely blew me away both times.

The score is fantastic, exactly my type of music and I truly don’t understand people who say that they find the songs ‘too similar’ or ‘not memorable’. My head has been a carousel of several of the songs since Wednesday and I don’t imagine that will change anytime soon.

As for the performances, you really don’t get better than this. Caissie Levy is outstanding. How she is delivering that level of vocals and acting 8 times a week is beyond me. Her chemistry with Jack Wolfe is off the charts which makes Diana and Gabe’s codependence so believable and devastating. Their voices also go so well together. Their harmonies during ‘Catch Me I’m Falling’ and ‘I Dreamed A Dance’ gave me goosebumps.

I was lucky enough to see both Eleanor Worthington-Cox and Lizzy Parker as Natalie. They both have amazing voices but for me Parker plays her more optimistically and I prefer Worthington-Cox’s more cynical interpretation. Parker’s more hopeful Natalie did make me enjoy her relationship with Henry a lot more though. Her Natalie appears somewhat smitten with him from their first meeting whereas Worthington-Cox’s only truly warms up to him by the end of Perfect For You. I prefer her Natalie’s relationship with Diana though, they have this perfect strain in their relationship which makes the release of ‘Maybe’ all the more powerful.

I would also like to give a shout out to Trevor Dion Nicholas. He manages to create two really interesting characters with very limited stage time, and his voice is wonderful. The ‘rockstar’ Doctor Madden moments got the biggest laughs after Henry’s line about Natalie’s grandparents both nights.

There were times when I was so enraptured by Jamie Parker’s acting that I almost forgot I was watching a musical. I particularly enjoyed his defiant optimism and staunch denial during ‘Better Than Before.’

His chemistry with Levy gets a lot of praise but it was his moment during ‘I Am The One’ (Reprise) with Wolfe that struck me the hardest. 
And then there’s Jack Wolfe who is the highlight of the production for me. His charisma is off the charts and his voice is one of my all time favourites. I hadn’t realised how much of the second act he spends crying and it is completely heartbreaking. On the Friday show particularly there were parts where he audibly let out a sob/sniffle and it was difficult to watch in the best way.

In conclusion a five star show featuring ten star performances. If it was up to me I’d have the whole cast across to Broadway by next year so that they could sweep (wishful thinking given the line up next year I know) at the Tony’s come June along with a cast-recording to boot, but I’ll just have to leave that one up to the theatre gods (aka investors).

I liked Lizzy Parker’s Natalie for act two - her act one was a little one dimensional and just so angry (which, valid, Natalie’s life sucks) but I thought she really came into her own in act two especially. I think of the three Natalie’s we’ve had (Elle/Lucy Munden (who was the brilliant cover at the Donmar)) she’s my least favourite but I did enjoy her performance.

I thought Jake Reynolds’ Gabe was incredibly weak. Again, no real layers there and could only smile or look sullen. The songs didn’t sit well in his voice at all and sounded very strained at times. I think it would be fine if you didn’t know any better. I didn’t realise how much I actually do like Jack.

I think Trevor has been sounding more and more strained as each week passes, I still think his lack of distinction between the two doctors is a real weak point for the show, as is that god awful kiss Diana gives to Henry (was funny in the muck up at the Donmar but now just feels so inappropriate)

Not to end on a negative note, I still cannot believe the work that Caissie and Jamie are doing night after night. Their chemistry and genuine affection for each other brings the show to a whole different level and really makes it hurt so much more - to have a Diana and Dan who actually clearly love each other really just elevates the show entirely. We are so lucky to have these exceptional actors playing these roles.

I definitely agree on Parker's Natalie being better in the second half. I'm not sure if she necessarily came of as angrier to me, I'd maybe say just less repressed, but she's definitely more optimistic which I think makes her starting off the song 'Light' more believable. With Worthington-Cox's Natalie, her beginning of that song seems more like something she's doing for Dan's sake, whereas I think Parker's comes to it more from a place of genuine hope which I preferred slightly. 

I didn't see Reynolds' Gabe but this is interesting to hear especially with most people I've seen saying they liked him, although I remember hearing similar things about Joshua Gannon's u/s performance at the Donmar with reference to the character not seeming to have as many layers as when Wolfe plays him. 

As someone who has watched Broadway bootlegs of the performance my fair share of times, I used to think of Gabe as a role that relies more on a strong singer than a strong actor. Tveit's interpretation always made him come across to me as more of a 'force' than a character and that worked as far as I was concerned. 

But having now seen Wolfe's interpretation I don't think I could go back to seeing Gabe played as anything less than what he brings to it. He's a cocky older brother, a fallen angel, and a scared little kid all wrapped in one. During the 'I Am The One' (Reprise) in one moment it felt as though he was omnipotent and seconds later it was like his body was made of grief - it was almost horrifying. But by bringing more depth to Gabe you give more depth to Diana's illness, which makes her more sympathetic and it more understandable why she doesn't want to let go of him, which in my opinion is the crux of enjoying the show. 

Ah, then you are the ideal person to ask this question - The general feeling seems to be that the Donmar production, with this full cast, is the show at it's best. Is that fair to say or have there been elements or actors changed along the journey that you preferred?

I absolutely think this is the best the show has been BUT I do think a lot of that is because of how much the stigma around mental illness has changed over the last 15 years. When I saw it for the first time on Broadway when it first opened, I adored it, I thought everyone was exceptional and I loved the little quirks that Alice gave Diana (this was very early on in the run) and then I went again and I saw Jessica Phillips as Diana and my view on the character changed completely. Then I saw Alice/Jessica more times and each time, especially with Alice, it felt very much like the goal was to make Diana this crazy caricature who was the depiction of maybe what society assumed someone with her diagnosis would stereotypically be like.

It was when I saw the late great Marin Mazzie that I really felt there was a level of emotional depth to Diana that hadn’t been tapped into before. Whilst it was wonderful to watch her and her husband play Diana and Dan, it still felt to me that this woman didn’t like her husband or her daughter but it felt less like the production was poking fun at mental illness.

Cut to the Donmar production, the last I had seen the production was in its closing week on Broadway in early 2011, so over a decade later. In that time I’ve had friends die due to mental health conditions, I’ve experienced many mental health issues of my own, but I also feel that I’m in a society now where I can say that ‘I have x’ or ‘this is what I’m diagnosed with’ and people don’t have this mental image of a crazy person and suddenly change their opinions of me. What this production has done, is take a very different approach to the original Broadway production simply because it has had to, they did a lot of work about learning how people with Diana’s diagnosis function in day to day life now verses 15 years ago, and by applying that more human lens to it - they’ve brought out threads within the story and the book that hadn’t been explored before. I think this production is a perfect example of reexamining a piece of art and bringing it into the present without having to make huge changes to the book or taking away pieces of it. If that makes sense?

It’s for both shows yes. I already had a ticket for the evening performance as wanted to see it a second time before closing- really looking forward to seeing her interpretation of the role.

How do we know it's both shows?

Thank you so much. I will be there!